


Making a Latter Day

by Writedontspeak



Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Broadway, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 23:59:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13891902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writedontspeak/pseuds/Writedontspeak
Summary: After the Uganda District 9 seemingly is shut down, Elder Price convinces the missionaries to continue their work in Northern Uganda. District Leader Elder McKinley seems to struggle with breaking rules more than he expected as his relationship with another Elder grows closer.





	Making a Latter Day

Mormons make habit of being followers. Doing as they are told without question and refusing to slip up from orders. But Mormons, specifically the District Nine Uganda Missionaries, also constantly seek to leach onto someone. They look for a leader to follow like a group of lost little ducklings. That leader for District Nine was originally meant to be Elder McKinley. Then due to recent events, it became Elder Cunningham. Who, in spite of his creative mind and undeniable originality, was not a leader of any means.

With that aside, the Mormons seemed to quickly select their new leader. Once again, as some may suspect, it was Elder Price. The Mormon who supposedly was going to be the special one to convert all the Ugandans but ended up attempting to get a transfer, getting a book shoved deep in his rectum, and drank half the country’s coffee supply. Despite his flaws, he seemed like the right person to turn to. It was, after all, his idea to stay in Uganda and help in other ways. Elder Cunningham still taught the Ugandans lessons with their new "religion" but otherwise, the help the missionaries gave was solely selfless acts.

No one truly knew what they were supposed to be doing in Uganda after the district was shut down. Everyone would mostly spend their time out in the village helping in whatever way they could, but that’s all the direction they truly got from Elder Price; just help. Elder McKinley seemed to struggle with this concept; no clear direction, just help the villagers in whatever way you find possible. There’s no end goal, no clear mission to wake up for each morning. Elder Price himself would’ve had the same dilemma, had it not been his idea in the first place.

 “You’re late,” Elder McKinley commented, as Elder Price quietly tried sneaking back into Mission Headquarters.

“I got caught up helping. It won’t happen again, I guarantee you,” Elder Price replied slightly above a whisper. They both knew that wasn’t true. This had been the sixth time Elder Price came back late and alone; and like always, McKinley waited for him.

“Lying is a sin,” McKinley remarked, standing up from the couch. “Besides everyone is asleep, there isn’t use in whispering they cannot hear you.”

“Right.”

“So, I still don’t get it. What exactly are you trying to accomplish here, Elder Price? What are we getting out of staying here?” The man questioned.

“We came here to help people, so we are helping people, there’s really not that much to it,” He explained, probably for the fortieth time. Elder Price was asked this question almost daily by McKinley, his response was almost scripted by now.

“But what do we- what do you get out of this?” McKinley wasn’t stupid, he knew deep down that Elder Price’s actions couldn’t possibly be as altruistic as they seemed. “I feel like this is just your way of trying to feed your pride.”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“I don’t know, maybe you’re just trying to compensate for something,” He didn’t know what he meant by this, he just knew he meant it in a more brutal way. Elder McKinley just chose this way to block out his feelings for the other man. As if seeming slightly bitter towards his actions most of the time, could cloud over the constant dreamboat staring. You see, Elder McKinley has been doey eyed falling for Elder Price since the second he walked into the Mission Headquarters on his first day. But he knew there was no way he could ever act on those feelings. He had almost slipped up a few times in the past, but it could never happen for real. It’s one thing to have sinful thoughts, but acting upon them is sure to send you straight to Hell.

“But I am,” The slightly taller Elder commented. “I haven’t been much help to anyone for the first part of my mission, I just want to do somet-“

“Something incredible, we’ve all heard,” McKinley cut him off, in sort of an annoyed way.

“Something good, for people who don’t have anywhere else to turn,” he finished. “Listen, Elder McKinley, I take it you don’t like me very much. Although that’s hard to grasp for me, I get it. But I guarantee you there’s no selfish motive behind what I’m trying to do; and if you have a problem with staying here, you can go. I am not holding you back in anyway.”

“I can’t just leave my companion, him or the other Missionaries. I don’t break rules like you,” He used as an excuse. “Which we need to get back to that, do you realize how dangerous it is out there so late? Alone, may I add?”

“I technically wasn’t alone,” Price argued. “I was helping some villagers rebuild one of their huts that got destroyed recently. It went a little later than expected, is that such a sin?”

“It’s a rule, Elder,” McKinley reminded him. “You can’t keep breaking all the rules like this.”

“They are only rules to ensure safety and I’m safe.”

“Well maybe one day you won’t be, Heavenly Father doesn’t take well to those who disregard his demands,” He continued, beginning to clean up around the entertainment area.

“Well, I’m not sure I even believe in that crap anymore so you’ll have to use a better argument than that,” Price rolled his eyes, helping put away the puzzles and board games left out from earlier.

McKinley didn’t respond, he didn’t know how. It baffled him how someone so dedicated to the church at one point, could just lose their faith at the flip of a switch. It’s not false to say that McKinley has had a lot of reason to lose faith, but he never has and never let himself slip up like Elder Price does. So what exactly gave him the right to?

“Why do you wait up?” Elder Price questioned, breaking the silence.

“What?”

“Whenever I come back late, with or without Arnold, you wait up, why?” He restated.

“First of all, we don’t call him that, it’s Elder Cunningham,” McKinley started off. “And I’m still the District leader, it’s my job to make sure you’re all doing what you’re supposed to.”

“Well I know what I’m doing and I’ll be fine,” Elder Price commented. He then questioned, seeming slightly annoyed again, “And why do we always have to go by ‘Elder’? Sure when we are out in the village working it makes sense, but we have actual names.”

“Do you have to question everything all in one night?” Elder McKinley sighed. “You should head to bed soon. You still have to wake up at six thirty and it’s practically tomorrow already.”

“Come on,” Price replied, putting a board game onto a shelf. “You don’t ever think to yourself about actually learning the names of the people you’re spending two years with?” He approached McKinley, who was picking the pieces of a messy Jenga game up. The taller Elder bent in front of the other, taking his hand to shake it. “I’m Kevin.”

Elder McKinley only tensed up before pulling his hand away in silence. His eyes closed as he took a deep breath, only to open them and stare directly into the other boy’s eyes. “I think you should go to bed, Elder Price. It’s near midnight and you don’t need to break anymore rules tonight.”

With that Elder Price just sighed, standing up and heading to his room. “Goodnight, Elder.”

McKinley grew a little sad that Elder Price had finally listened. He secretly enjoyed when Price would come back late, it gave McKinley some alone time with him. Not that it was the type of alone time he’s been longing for since day one. But, it is a few select minutes where Elder Price’s full attention is on McKinley and only McKinley. His dreams only got worse whenever this happened. But the tingling feeling in his stomach and pumping of his heart whenever Elder Price looked his way made up for the lifetime of Hell dreams.

________

 

Elder Price woke up bright and early, five am, the next day. He often was an early riser, but it was usually about an hour and a half later. Typically it was because he was well rested the night before and didn’t need additional time to snooze. But Price actually barely slept at all that night. Not just did he not head to bed until midnight, but he also couldn’t sleep through the night very well. His head was too full of thoughts that he couldn’t fully understand. They were nothing to dwell on though.

“What are you doing up?” He heard a voice ask as he left his room. It was, to no surprise, Elder McKinley.

“I can ask the same.”

“I always wake up this early,” He explained. “I need quiet time before everyone else wakes up.”

“Gosh, do you ever sleep?” Elder Price chuckled lightly, opening up cabinets to find something to eat.

“Nope,” McKinley smiled back, even though Price wasn’t looking. “So why are you awake?”

“Couldn’t stay asleep,” He shrugged, closing the cabinet. “We have a lot of Pop Tarts, don’t we?”

“As per request Elder Thomas, yes we do.” McKinley’s answer was only acknowledged by Price’s yawn as he made his way over to the small round kitchen table. “Is there a reason you couldn’t sleep?” He asked, sitting across from the other Elder.

“Specifically? No.”

“Did you have the Hell Dream?”

“I haven’t had the Hell dream since I was going for a transfer,” Elder Price shrugged. McKinley didn’t know why he was hoping for him to say yes, he just thought maybe that if Elder Price was having those dreams too it could mean he had the same impure thoughts. “Probably because I don’t really believe in Hell. I mean, Hell was reserved for Satan alone anyway, but how do we know if it’s really there? We have no actual proof of these things and we believe them just cause we are told to. That’s always seemed really suspicious to me.”

“Here we go,” The other Elder rolled his eyes. “Your doubt is probably what drove this district into the ground in the first place.”

“Not the extremely inappropriate compulsive lying that Arnold did which turned our religion into some deranged syfy movie?” Price raised an eyebrow, staring right at McKinley with a grin. That only ticked Elder McKinley off a little more. Elder Price’s little cocky grin spread across his absolutely perfect face, because he knew he was right, he knew McKinley wasn’t going to argue further.

“You love being right don’t you?”

“Everyone loves being right,” The Elder corrected. “I just happen to be right more often.”

“Right,” McKinley nodded. “It’s also Elder Cunningham, not Arnold. Remember?”

“To me he can be Arnold, we don’t need to be completely professional here.”

“Actually, Elder,” He began, he stared at Price before standing up. “I think we need to keep everything as professional as possible.”

Elder Price didn’t know the exact thing Elder McKinley was referring to, but he nodded as if he did. There was no actual reason for a comment like that anyway, but it was strictly self reassurance. For a few minutes, it was silent, as McKinley was setting things up in the kitchen.

“You know,” Elder Price began to speak again, making his way into the small kitchen. “I was thinking, why don’t you come with me today?” McKinley shot him a confused look, though his heart pounded hard at the idea of Elder Price inviting him alone somewhere. “To the village, you’re always questioning what I do there. So why not come see for yourself?”

“Well,” he started off, trying to think of any excuse to say no. But he still was a Mormon and he didn’t believe lying was the right way out of things. “It would help to see first hand what the world’s most helpful Mormon is doing with his time.”

“Great, But you can’t criticize me or my work.” Price disregarded the sarcasm of the previous comment.

“That’s my job,” Elder McKinley said defensively. “I have to supervise you, I’m the District Leader.”

“Your job isn’t to criticize, it’s to make sure we are doing our job in the first place actually,” He sighed.

“Then I won’t criticize,” Elder McKinley promised, not happily. But that changed slowly after when he saw the genuine smile on Elder Price’s face. “But we need to be back before sundown, I’m not interested in breaking any rules with you today.”

“Next time?” The taller Elder joked.

“Who said there will be a next time?” He teased back.

“Right, forgive my assumptions.”

“You’re forgiven,” McKinley continued on with the joke. All Elder Price did to reply was laugh. McKinley always loved his laugh. In his opinion it was one of the most beautiful sounds to hear in Uganda, not that that is a hard title to claim. A warm knot filled in his stomach as he stared at the other Elder.

“You know, you’re not all that bad,” Elder Price spoke.

“Thank you?”

“Well, you always mask yourself to be the serious District Leader. You don’t ever really seem to have a lot of enjoyable moments here,” he explained. “You’ve been nothing but hostile towards me recently.”

“Can you blame me?” McKinley didn’t realize until now exactly how bitter he’s acted towards Price. He was just constantly afraid he’d slip up and Price would know how he feels. “You break the rules constantly and you walked out on us after barely going out into the village.”

“Yeah well,” Elder Price stood up and walked over to the other Elder. “Though, you out of everyone should be able to forgive those sorts of mistakes.” McKinley’s heart stopped; was he referring to what McKinley thought he was? Probably not, I mean he couldn’t be.

“What exactly do you mean by that?” He turned sharply to look at Price, which wasn’t exactly the best decision because he found himself memorizing every little detail of his face for a minute until he replied.

“Never mind,” Price shook his head, immediately breaking the eye contact and walking past him. “We are going into the village at ten.” With that, he headed back to his shared room where Arnold was deeply sleeping as well as snoring.


End file.
